[Yug]

Definitely a serious news organisation. Anyone who starts a tweet on their official "X" account with the words "Lefty 'snowflakes'" must be taken seriously. Just not by anyone over the age of 12.

[Abernathy]

Mordaunt really is quite nasty in some of the policy positions she embraces, isn’t she ?

[Andy McDandy]

She knows what gets them going. To wit, her being a bit domainatrixy.

[Tubby Isaacs]

It must be that the dominatrix look because she's a bit of an awkward fit for them. Was killed for being "woke" by Badenoch and the goon squad, and isn't actually supporting anything much here. "Yeah, would be nice, but voluntary".

[Youngian]

Mourdant can carry a sword in a farcical archaic ceremony so is therefore a future Tory leadership contender.

[Tubby Isaacs]

"Unmoored"? Who says that? What's the idea? They do this then think "Puts all those fees and houseprices into perspective"? Is compulsory maths built into this scheme? (That's actually not a bad idea, or wouldn't be with enough teachers).

[Andy McDandy]

If it's so great, you go and do it, you cosplay Gove.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Why do you have to put people through "national service" to teach them skills?

The budget seems interesting. About £2,200 per person. Seeing they're talking about skills, seems reasonable to compare with what the government pays towards apprenticeships.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... ding-bands

Open the excel document, and the Government is prepared to more than £2,200 in most cases towards training, with the (small) employer supplement on top. Are they housed and fed? You'd presume so, otherwise it's basically YTS living at home, with some DofE stuff chucked in. There'd have to be non-technical staff too, and some youth work specialists, if they're intending to rescue lost youth with it.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Big Sam on good form here. Unfortunately Mr Hawksbee isn't the pretty good football phone in guy. Edit- wrong tweet posted by me. Will correct tmrw.

[kreuzberger]

National Service. His Majesty's painfully stretched forces would love that, no doubt.

[Tubby Isaacs]

One of the other things about is this "opt out" business. The idea that somebody who forgets to opt out is going to think "Hey, you win some, you lose some, I'll just have to give up a year of my life then! Shucks!" is laughable. What are they going to do, tSend a Press Gang along? Spend a shedload taking a 16 year old through the courts?

[Bones McCoy]

National Service. His Majesty's painfully stretched forces would love that, no doubt.

As any Junior officer or Officer cadet will explain.

The British Army does not have sufficient soldiers to absorb the expansion required by National Service.
If every current enlisted man were promoted to NCO tomorrow there would only be half the numbers necessary to supervise and train a year's intake.

And where would they be accommodated? Bibby Barges?

[Youngian]

If Wootton wore a top hat he’d still slip under a python as he’s so low. ‘Distinguished biographer’ Angela Levin coincidentally has written toadying hagiographies of Charles and Camilla. Probably not short of a bob or two.
https://x.com/gbnews/status/16970019436 ... Dkr8MiQKBg

[Andy McDandy]

The British Army does not have sufficient soldiers to absorb the expansion required by National Service.
If every current enlisted man were promoted to NCO tomorrow there would only be half the numbers necessary to supervise and train a year's intake.

And where would they be accommodated? Bibby Barges?

Doesn't matter - because it's never going to happen. But they know it plays well with their base. Permanent campaign mode means never having to explain how something will work - just that it will work.

[Tubby Isaacs]

This stuff seems to benefit Onward personnel in their personal careers- Seb Payne is applying for Tory safe seats as we speak- than the Tory Party, who are in enough electoral shit already for sounding like the man in the pub. There's "turn out the base", provided the base is large enough, which it doesn't seem to be any more. Being "Eurosceptic" enlarged the base, till they went and did the deed.

The Electoral Maps nowcast of the new boundaries is quite something. Ultra efficient tactical voting (which probably won't happen) would lose them rural Gloucestershire.

https://electionmaps.uk/nowcast

[Bones McCoy]

The British Army does not have sufficient soldiers to absorb the expansion required by National Service.
If every current enlisted man were promoted to NCO tomorrow there would only be half the numbers necessary to supervise and train a year's intake.

And where would they be accommodated? Bibby Barges?

Doesn't matter - because it's never going to happen. But they know it plays well with their base. Permanent campaign mode means never having to explain how something will work - just that it will work.

Correct answer.
More smoke and mirrors for the rubes.

[Tubby Isaacs]

I seem to have missed that Penny Mordaunt's proposal is for national service of.... 2 weeks.

With all due respect to Onward (which isn't much), I reckon that the government isn't going to weaken the Triple Lock to pay for this.

[Tubby Isaacs]

[slilley]

I see they are now getting very upset about Last Night of the Proms. Mr Farage in particular. It comes at 4.48 after Farage has pontificated about China.

[Youngian]

Waving a Union Jack to Rule Britannia is the nearest Farage has to a cultural hinterland.